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Another third-period rally leads Ducks past Oilers

Two days after the Ducks overcame a four-goal deficit to beat the Winnipeg Jets in overtime, they spotted the Edmonton Oilers a two-goal advantage before rallying in the third period for a 3-2 victory at Honda Center on Wednesday night.

Corey Perry, whose last-minute goal Monday sent that game into overtime, scored twice in a 7:57 span of the final period to tie the game, then set up Francois Beauchemin's one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Viktor Fasth with 1:21 left in regulation.

"Their team was taking away the far side, so I just tried to shoot it as hard as I could," Beauchemin said. "I knew [Perry] was going for a rebound if it was there. Fortunately, it went in. I was pretty happy with that one."

Perry said the Ducks have to play for a full game with the same kind of desperation they showed in the third period.

"We've been a team that's worked hard all year," Perry said. "We have that never-say-die attitude. If we can continue to push and play the right way for a full 60 minutes, we'll be all right."

The Ducks (50-18-8) stretched their lead over the idle San Jose Sharks in the race for first place in the Pacific Division to three points. Anaheim still has a game in hand.

The 50 wins are the most in franchise history.

"The idea of reaching 50 wins is pretty cool, quite frankly," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "There's only going to be a few teams that do it, and when you're one of them, it's quite an accomplishment. I'm pretty proud of the guys for 50 wins."

Phillip Larsson and Jordan Eberle scored for the Oilers, last in the Western Conference. Fasth, playing for the first time against the team that traded him to Edmonton last month, made 23 saves.

"I think the first period was a little rusty, but I kind of got into the game the longer it went," Fasth said. "But I have to do better for us to win. It was a tough loss.

"I should've had the third one, for sure."

Rookie Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots for the Ducks for his 19th win in 24 decisions.

It was the second tough road loss for the Oilers in as many nights. They overcame a 3-1 deficit against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, but couldn't hold a third-period lead and lost 5-4.

"It's heartbreaking," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. "It's the kind of game that you want your players to feel the reward of the points.

"But with the Ducks, they seem to be very, very good at never being out of the game. Great compete, but we have to find a way to close it out."

The Oilers came out firing. Edmonton outshot the Ducks 7-1 in the first 10:33, forcing Andersen to be sharp. He stopped Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the post before the five-minute mark and denied him again from the slot three minutes later.

The Ducks began to push the tempo in the second half of the period, earning the game's first two power plays, but were unable to beat Fasth. The period ended scoreless, with the Oilers outshooting the Ducks 11-9.

Edmonton finally got on the board at 16:04 of the second period thanks to a great power-play shot by Larsson. With Mathieu Perreault off for tripping, Larsson eased down through the right circle before firing a shot from wide of the faceoff dot that found a tiny spot in the top corner. It was Larsson's third of the season.

The Oilers' big line, which combined for 10 points in the loss at San Jose, made it 2-0 at 2;51 of the third period. Nugent-Hopkins got the puck to Taylor Hall, setting up a 2-on-1 break entering the Ducks' zone. Hall found Eberle cutting to the net, and Eberle flicked the puck into the net for his 26th of the season and a 2-0 lead.

But Andersen kept the Ducks in the game seconds later when he twice robbed Nugent-Hopkins, and Anaheim beat Fasth on the return rush.

"When we had a 2-0 lead, we had an unbelievable chance in front of the net, and a rebound, where if it would have gone to three, I think the game would have been over," Eakins said.

Instead, Anaheim's Matt Beleskey bounced off a check along the left half-wall, kept the puck and found Perry racing down the middle. Perry took Beleskey's pass and rocketed a shot from between the circle past Fasth at 3:28 to become the NHL's second 40-goal scorer this season. Only Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (48 goals) has scored more.

Perry scored his 41st and tied the game at 11:25 with a midair deflection of Stephane Robidas' right-point shot after the Oilers failed to clear their zone.

"We always know we have a chance," Beauchemin said. "We’re pretty good playing with the lead, as well. It's a lot less stressful playing with a lead. We killed a big penalty just before my goal. That was a big momentum change."

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